Teletherapy

It would be an understatement to say that 2020 and 2021 has been a challenging time for most all of us. The added stress and uncertainty of a pandemic has resulted in many more individuals and families seeking psychotherapeutic support. The pandemic has also prompted mental health professionals to re-examine how services are provided and to explore new options and opportunities. While telephonic therapy has been around for as long as there have been telephones, it has often been viewed as a last resort when in-person therapy isn’t available. However, over the past several years, and especially since the COVID pandemic, the availability of live video tools has dramatically changed how psychotherapy and other counselling services are being rendered.

There has been a great deal of research examining the efficacy of live video therapy and showing that video therapy can be as effective as in-person therapy, with clients reporting high levels of satisfaction with treatment. As a therapist, I have come to see live video therapy as having many advantages over my more traditional in-office work:

• Convenience: I can connect with clients from virtually anywhere at any time.
• Flexibility: I can see clients outside of traditional office hours, allowing clients to access my services before or after work or school, on weekends or when traveling.
• Productivity:
  1. Appointments are more likely to start at on time, once again adding to clients sense of ease and comfort.
  2. The intimacy afforded by meeting with clients in their “life spaces” often provides a greater sense of ease and comfort thereby facilitating the therapeutic process.
  3. Not having to decompress from a commute or the discomfort of an office waiting room, I have observed that clients are often quicker to actively engage in our work together.
  4. Not having to worry about commuting after the session seems to enable my clients to focus and work right up to the end of our sessions.
  5. Working with clients in their day-to-day environments (in-situ); home, office, dorm room, etc., often enables the client to connect to emotional content that otherwise might not be as readily available in the office setting.
• Crisis Intervention: Teletherapy has enabled me to be more available to assist clients during times of heightened need for support and assistance. 

Of course, there will be some clients and conditions that are not well-suited to live online therapy (Borderline personality, thought disorders, suicidality, children) and for those clients I directing them to other clinicians, however, it appears that most clients can, have been, and continue to be well-served by this medium. Bottomline, my goal is to provide live video therapeutic services to my clients’, thereby increasing their access to my services and to be better able to serve their needs. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding my services.